Do you prefer to see open files in the side bar, or use tabs?

Dev Build 2120 has changed so that the open files are hidden by default in the side bar. I made this change because I get the impression that people mostly just use the tabs, and it provides a more common interface. I'd like to get a feel for it my hunch is correct or not.

FWIW I personally turn the tabs off, as I tend to work with a lot of open files, and the side bar is better for managing that.

I personally tend to use both. I prefer using tabs, but when I hit ~30+ tabs, I also use the sidebar a lot.But, since I only really use the sidebar when I have too many tabs open, does it make sense to alphabetize the sidebar? I mean, I understand what they are sorted the same way as tabs, that makes sense too. But I was also just thinking if I already don't really have a good clue how my tabs are ordered cuz so damn many are open, then why not sort them alphabetically in the sidebar?

There should be another option in the poll, I think:I use neither tabs nor the sidebar—I use only goto anything (and cmd+option+up). I used to use just the sidebar, for the same reason that Jon does (i.e. the fact that I never close files so tab titles are unreadable) but I realized over time that I never actually looked at the sidebar, and only ever used goto anything to open a file. Eventually I just turned the sidebar off.

I save files all the time, so for me there's no functional difference between a file being open and being closed, save for the undo history. (I wouldn't say no to a persistent undo history though! )

That said, there are two reasons I turn on tabs (both of which are things that could be fixed):• I turn on tabs when I use a multi-row layout, because otherwise there's no border between the sections (I'm using soda theme—haven't tried with the normal theme).• I turn on tabs in order to pull a view out of the window, because you can't pull the sidebar items out into a new window. I don't think there's a key combo either.

One other thing that would be totally sweet: If I just have one folder open in an unsaved project (i.e. I "subl ."ed something) could the folder name be displayed where the project name is? This would give me yet another reason to be able to leave the sidebar off.

adzenith wrote:• I turn on tabs when I use a multi-row layout, because otherwise there's no border between the sections (I'm using soda theme—haven't tried with the normal theme).• I turn on tabs in order to pull a view out of the window, because you can't pull the sidebar items out into a new window. I don't think there's a key combo either.

Same here...It's the only things that actually prevent me to only use side bar.A border in multi-row layout would be great.

I actually use Go To File/Anything a lot more than either the sidebar or tabs.

If I know I'm in the right place, I'll use tabs. If Go To Anything wont pick up a file in my project (happens a lot) then I'll use the sidebar to navigate. Open Files is shown, so I can see quickly at a glance, but to me, I always get a feeling that they wont take me to files, even though I know they will.

I use tabs 99% of the time, but every once in a while show the side bar to see which folders are associated with the project. I rarely expand the project folders - ctrl+p is way better for opening files from the project.

adzenith wrote:• I turn on tabs when I use a multi-row layout, because otherwise there's no border between the sections (I'm using soda theme—haven't tried with the normal theme).• I turn on tabs in order to pull a view out of the window, because you can't pull the sidebar items out into a new window. I don't think there's a key combo either.

Same here...It's the only things that actually prevent me to only use side bar.A border in multi-row layout would be great.

Same here as well, a border between the panes would be really nice, it's something that i've wanted for quite some time going back to v1 even.

On the issue of tabs vs sidebar. Initially I didn't really like the sidebar and used tabs mostly, but over time I've grown to love the sidebar and use it pretty much exclusively now. I think it's just a bit weird at first, but once you start using it, it's a more elegant solution than tabs. I also sort of miss the single key shortcut to show/hide it because I do that a lot, and yeah I just haven't mapped a key to do that yet.

I do like the sidebar+open files facility, but I tend to leave the sidebar hidden for screen real-estate reasons. I find it fiddly to switch the sidebar just to see what else I have open, and do a lot of back-and-forth file switching between adjacent tabs with a fast shortcut. So, I pretty much use everything for something. I only ever go without tabs in distraction-free (and should really use go-anywhere more so I don't have to leave it as much).